Sopwell history

This section describes some of what we have found out about Sopwell's history.

Everyone knows that St Albans is steeped in history. There are many published works on our Roman forbears, the Abbey, the churches, the market etc. but equally Sopwell can boast of having several places of historical interest e.g. St Stephen’s Church, Sopwell Priory (Nunnery), and the railway.

The St Albans Abbey to Watford Railway opened in 1858 and what was the St Albans Abbey to Hatfield railway - closed by Dr Beeching - is now the Alban Way.

Most of the area covered by Sopwell was once farmland so much of the history of the built up area is from the early 1900s onwards.

UPDATE - October 2012: Having obtained funding for our "More Memories of Sopwell" project, this section of the SRA website will eventually be replaced by a brand-new dedicated website!

UPDATE - May 2014: The new Sopwell Memories website went live at the Sopwell Residents Association AGM on Weds, 21st May 2014. The official launch, however, hopefully with some press coverage, will be in August, as part of the month long display in St Albans Museum in Hatfield Road.